Monday, 8 July 2013

It has been around eight months since the first season of The Walking Dead: The Game reached its climax – it was the end of an emotional rollercoaster that had spanned almost half a year, across five episodes. The game received multiple game of the year nominations, winning many (including our very own). It connected with players in a way that very few video games ever manage to do, by introducing characters that you could bond with and actually care about.

Where can Telltale Games go from there? They have managed one of the most impressive achievements in the field of video games in recent memory. As fans eagerly anticipate the already-confirmed second season, many might begin to think that surely things can only go downhill after season one. 400 Days was initially promised as something that would help tide over fans until season two was released. Rather than be a standalone entity, Telltale have released the episode as DLC for season one – calling it a “special episode”. This should be a clear statement that fans shouldn’t necessarily expect a masterpiece of the same scale as season one with 400 Days. This is a different beast entirely.

Saturday, 6 July 2013

When the arcade smash hit scrolling beat-em-up from Capcom – Final Fight – was ported onto the Super Nintendo in 1991, the game was a huge success. Considering the limitations of the home console, Capcom managed to put together a very faithful adaptation, that was very close to the real arcade experience. Except for one glaring omission – there was no two-player option.

Of course, many fans noticed this and the fact became a real issue. Players who had enjoyed the game greatly in their local arcades wanted to play through at home with a friend, as scrolling beat-em-ups are always more fun when played with a partner. Other game developers obviously noticed this fact too, and Japanese developer Jaleco looked to take advantage of this shortcoming just a year later.